Wagering game, gaming machine, gaming system and method with game play interrupt and resume

ABSTRACT

A wagering game, gaming machine, networked gaming system, and associated methods are disclosed including a bank of gaming machines connected to an overhead display enabling players at the respective gaming machines to qualify to play a community feature game displayed on the overhead display. Prior to the start of the community feature game, the primary game on the respective gaming machines may be interrupted, the game state stored, and following the conclusion of the community feature game, the game may resume according to its stored game state.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The Applicants claim the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/386,338 filed Sep. 24, 2010, andentitled “Wagering Game, Gaming Machine, Gaming System And Method WithGame Play Interrupt And Resume.” The entire content of this provisionalapplication is incorporated herein by this reference.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction of the patent document or thepatent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Officepatent files or records, but otherwise reserves all rights of copyrightwhatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to wagering games, gaming machines, gamingsystems, and associated methods. More particularly, the inventionrelates to gaming machines and related methods presenting wagering gamestogether with either, a community or stand-alone feature game with areal-time updated position display.

2. Description of the Related Art

Various gaming systems have been developed to provide wagering games andcommunity feature games. There continues to be a need for innovativemethods and gaming systems presenting community feature games indifferent ways to generate player interest and excitement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a wageringgame is presented including a game play interrupt to save a game statefor some intervening activity. At a later point in time game play isresumed from the interruption point.

In accordance with another example embodiment, a community game ispresented with a bank of gaming machines connected to an overheaddisplay enabling players at the respective gaming machines to qualify toplay a community feature game displayed on the overhead display whereineach qualified player may be associated with a virtual competitor (alsoreferred to herein as a “virtual participant”) such as a car upon whichthe player has placed a bet. Prior to initiating the community featuregame, game play on the respective gaming machines is interrupted and thegame states are stored. Following play of the community feature game,game play on the respective gaming machines is resumed in accordancewith the respective saved game states.

Because the game interrupt process may be performed through gamingsystems employing general purpose processing devices, the presentinvention includes program products in addition to processes and gamingapparatus. One or more program products according to the presentinvention may include feature game administration program code, primarygame program code, and feature game presentation program code. Thefeature game administration program code may be executable to produce aninterrupt signal to interrupt play of a primary game. The primary gameprogram code may be executable to (i) initiate one or more plays in aprimary game, to (ii) provide a player of the primary game anopportunity to select at least one virtual participant from a field ofvirtual participants of a feature game, to (iii) store the game state ofthe primary game in response to the interrupt signal, and to (iv) resumegame play of the primary game in accordance with the stored game stateupon completion of the feature game. The feature game presentationprogram code may be executable to produce a feature game graphic signalto drive one or more display devices to present the feature game to theplayer via a competition graphic showing a virtual competition betweenthe field of virtual participants. The result of the virtual competitionmay identify a feature game outcome.

These and other advantages and features of the invention will beapparent from the following description of illustrative embodiments,considered along with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example community feature game bank with anoverhead display in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example community feature game with cars at thestart line as shown on a player's display wherein a player's two racecars are shown in respective positions, and, as may similarly be shownon an overhead display in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example community feature game with cars racing asshown on a player's display wherein a player's single race car is shownin its position both on the side leader board and with an indicator overthe respective car, and, as may similarly be shown on an overheaddisplay in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example community feature game with cars racing asshown on a player's display wherein a player's two race cars are shownin their respective positions both on the side leader board and with anindicator over the respective cars, and, as may similarly be shown on anoverhead display in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example community feature game with cars crossingfinish line as shown on a player's display wherein a player's singlerace car is shown in its position both on the side leader board and withan indicator over the respective car, and, as may similarly be shown onan overhead display in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example community feature game with the winningcar displayed as shown on a player's display and wherein a player's tworace cars are shown in their respective positions on the side leaderboard along with the respective awards for the player, and, as maysimilarly be shown on an overhead display in accordance with one or moreembodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example flowchart of a community feature game inaccordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates a front view of an example gaming machine connectablewith a bank of gaming machines and an overhead display to participate ina community feature game in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example logic diagram of an example gaming machinein accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example screenshot of a reel-based game with aprimary display area displaying a set of reels and associated symbols, asideboard area showing the current player as having no bets recorded forthe next community game and being thereby currently ineligible toparticipate, and, a header area including a countdown timer for thebeginning of the next community game, all of which may be displayed on aplayer-viewable display, such as a primary game display, in accordancewith one or more embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example screenshot of a reel-based game with aprimary display area displaying a set of reels and associated symbols, asideboard area showing the current player as having one ‘250 credit’ betrecorded for the next community game and being thereby currentlyeligible to participate, and, a header area including a countdown timerfor the beginning of the next community game, all of which may bedisplayed on a player-viewable display, such as a primary game display,in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example screenshot of a reel-based game with aprimary display area displaying a set of reels and associated symbols, asideboard area showing the current player as having two ‘250 credit’bets recorded for the next community game and being thereby currentlyeligible to participate, and, a header area including a countdown timerfor the beginning of the next community game, all of which may bedisplayed on a player-viewable display, such as a primary game display,in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example screenshot of a reel-based game with aprimary display area displaying a set of reels and associated symbolsincluding three scattered ‘Place Your Bet’ symbols triggering theSpeedway Race Bonus (enabling the player to enter another bet for thenext community game), a sideboard area showing the current player asalready having one bet recorded for the next community game and beingthereby currently eligible to participate, and, a header area includinga countdown timer for the beginning of the next community game, all ofwhich may be displayed on a player-viewable display, such as a primarygame display, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example screenshot of the Speedway Race Bonustriggered by the appearance of three scattered ‘Place Your Bet’ symbolsin the primary game, wherein the player is provided a ‘250’ Bet TicketValue and the opportunity to select one of the race cars upon which tobet for the next community game. The screenshot further displays thepaytable for the community race bonus, the car whereon the player hasalready placed a bet, and the time remaining prior to the start of thenext community game, all of which may be displayed on a player-viewabledisplay, such as a primary game display, in accordance with one or moreembodiments.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example screenshot of the Speedway Race Bonustriggered by the appearance of three scattered ‘Place Your Bet’ symbolsin the primary game, wherein the player has been provided a ‘250’ BetTicket Value to place on one of the race cars and has made an election(or choice) shown by the highlighted car icon ‘Galaxy 3000’. Thescreenshot further displays the paytable for the community race bonusand the time remaining prior to the start of the next community game,all of which may be displayed on a player-viewable display, such as aprimary game display, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example screenshot of a reel-based game with aprimary display area displaying a set of reels and associated symbolsincluding three scattered ‘Free Spin Bonus’ symbols triggering the FreeSpin Bonus wherein the player receives a randomly or pseudo-randomlydetermined number of free games, a sideboard area showing the currentplayer has no bets recorded for the next community game and beingthereby currently ineligible to participate, a footer area including adisplay of the current player credits and bets which indicate that theplayer has entered a maximum bet to attempt to gain entry to the nextcommunity game, and, a header area including a display of the countdowntimer for the beginning of the next community game, all of which may bedisplayed on a player-viewable display, such as a primary game display,in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example screenshot of the Free Spin Bonustriggered by the appearance of three scattered ‘Free Spin Bonus’ symbolsin the primary game, wherein the player is provided a series of freespins. The screenshot further displays the free spins remaining (footerarea), the time remaining prior to the start of the next community game(header area), and a sideboard area showing the current player has nobets recorded for the next community game and being thereby currentlyineligible to participate, all of which may be displayed on aplayer-viewable display, such as a primary game display, in accordancewith one or more embodiments.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example screenshot of a primary game wherein abanner is displayed to notify the player that the community game hasbeen triggered and that further play of the primary game has beendisabled in accordance with one or more embodiments. A snapshot of thestate of the gaming machine is recorded and following the communitygame, the gaming machine is re-enabled at the same state of the primarygame. For example, if the player was playing a Free Spin Bonus at thetime of the disablement, the remaining number of free spins isre-instated and the Free Spin Bonus continues.

FIG. 19 illustrates an example gaming network associated with one ormore gaming facilities and which includes a community game system withan overhead display operably connected to a designated bank of gamingmachines to provide a community feature game in accordance with one ormore embodiments.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example flowchart of a web-based community gameprocess in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 21 illustrates an example screenshot showing a position switchbetween two adjacent virtual participants in and example feature game.

FIG. 22 illustrates an example flowchart of a process for generating afeature game which includes a virtual competition for a field of virtualparticipants.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example flowchart of a process for generating aslow motion replay of the finish of a virtual competition.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, example gaming system 100 is shown with overheaddisplay (shared display) 101 connected to a bank of networked gamingmachines 103 such that a community feature game may be presented onoverhead display 101 and individual awards may be provided based oncorresponding community feature game events in accordance with one ormore embodiments.

In one or more embodiments, each of the players on the bank may qualifyto play the community game based upon one or more criterion, such as byplaying the primary game at the gaming machine and achieving one or moremilestones, such as accumulating one or more betting tickets and/ormeeting a minimum wager and frequency at the time of the community gamebeing triggered. Each gaming machine 103 on the bank may connect to amaster community feature game controller to receive community gamestatus information and transmit player status information, and mayinclude a display which may provide player status information andcommunity game status information. For example, display 107 may showeligibility timer 109, such as a clock-style countdown with a tickindicator (e.g. ticking down a timer to zero). Player eligibility may bebased on initiating each game play within a pre-specified period (e.g.eight seconds) and playing a pre-specified minimum number of lines (e.g.thirty or maximum lines) with at least one credit wagered per line plusa community game side bet (e.g. twenty credits).

In one or more embodiments, the community feature game may be triggeredby an event at one or more of the gaming machines or by any other eventwithin the network, such as through a processor periodically determiningwhether to initiate the community feature game. Such a periodicdetermination may, for example, include use of a random number generator(RNG), a timer, or a counter by a processor to trigger the communityfeature game. In an example embodiment, a controller for overheaddisplay 101 may include coding to periodically, such as each tenth of asecond, initiate a selection using an RNG and determine whether theselection triggers a community feature game. Alternatively to using theoverhead display controller, one of gaming machines 103 may bedesignated as the community feature game host and perform the controlleroperation described above to determine triggering the community featuregame. In yet another alternative, the community feature game triggeringdetermination may be conducted by a remote server connected to the bankand overhead display through a network (such as depicted in FIG. 19).Once the triggering event occurs and just prior to initiating thecommunity feature game, a signal (an interrupt signal) may be sent bythe community feature game controller to each of gaming machines 103resulting in each game processor: i) storing a snapshot of itsassociated registers indicating the respective player's eligibility, andii) transmitting eligibility information to the community feature gamecontroller. Each gaming machine may also communicate a ready signal tothe community game feature controller to indicate that the respectivegaming machine is performed the necessary steps preparatory to startingthe feature game and is thus ready to start the feature game.

In one or more embodiments, upon the determination to initiate thecommunity feature game, an announcement may be transmitted to each ofgaming machines 103 on the bank to advise the players of the impendingbeginning of the community feature game and possibly to encourage theplayers to engage in additional play to become eligible or to increaseeligibility to play the community feature game. A visual and/or audiblecountdown may also be presented at each of the gaming machines in thebank, such as through display 107 and speakers on each gaming machine103 and/or overhead display 101 (which may include speakers similar tovarious commercially available flat screen TVs), to further alert theplayers of the timing for the community feature game to begin.

In one or more embodiments, the community feature game may be displayedas a race track over which a set of cars may race. Prior to play of thegame, each eligible player may have the opportunity (based on primarygame play) to bet upon one or more race cars. Once the race iscompleted, one or more players may accrue points, credits, and/or awardsbased on their bets on their respective cars.

Referring to FIG. 2, example screenshot 200 is shown of a communityfeature game with cars at the start line in display area 201 as may beshown on a player's display 107 (FIG. 1) wherein a player's two racecars are shown with highlighted markers 202 in respective positions onside display area 203 in accordance with one or more embodiments.Indicators 205 are also shown in display area 201 to indicate theplayer's two race cars. A similar screenshot may be displayed onoverhead display 101 in which case each of the cars are shownhighlighted in side display area 203, and without the indicators 205.

Referring to FIG. 3, example screenshot 300 is shown of a communityfeature game with cars racing in display area 301 as may be shown on aplayer's display 107 wherein a player's single race car marker is shownhighlighted in its position both on a leader board presented in sidedisplay area 303 and with indicator 305 over the respective car, and, asmay similarly be shown on overhead display 101 in accordance with one ormore embodiments. As the race progresses, the player's single race carmarker 302 on the leader board in area 303 may be displayed in sequencewith the race display to skip around or over the markers of the othercars, either up or down, depending upon the player's car passing orbeing passed by the other cars. For display 101, the side display areacorresponding to area 303 may highlight all the race car markers andshow respective of the race car markers to skip around or over markersof the other cars as a position change occurs in the displayed racesequence.

Referring to FIG. 4, example screenshot 400 is shown of a communityfeature game with cars racing as shown on a player's display 107(FIG. 1) wherein a player's two race cars are shown in their respectivepositions both on the leader board in side display area 403 (byhighlighted markers 402) and with indicator 405 over the respectivecars, and, as may similarly be shown on overhead display 101 inaccordance with one or more embodiments. As the race progresses, both ofthe player's race car markers on the leader board in side display area403 are displayed in sequence with the race display to skip around orover the markers of the other cars, either up or down, depending uponthe player's car passing or being passed by the other cars.

Referring to FIG. 5, example screenshot 500 is shown of a communityfeature game with cars crossing finish line in display area 501 as shownon a player's display 107 (FIG. 1) wherein a player's single race car isshown in its position both on the leader board shown in side displayarea 503 (shown with highlighted marker 502) and with indicator 505 overthe respective car, and, as may similarly be shown on overhead display101 in accordance with one or more embodiments. After the cars in therace bonus finish the race, the last stretch of the race may be replayedin slow motion. As the cars pass the finish line during the slow motionreplay they briefly pause and the screen may be flashed to look similarto a camera flash. This effect may be achieved by using a combination ofshader techniques producing both overexposure and saturation fading inand out quickly. The technique includes both pre and post processing.The post processing is a series of contrast filters, down and upsampling, and Gaussian blurs to achieve a variable Bloom effect which isused to overexpose the final image. These processes will be describedfurther below in connection with FIG. 23.

Referring to FIG. 6, example screenshot 600 is shown of a communityfeature game with the winning car displayed as shown on a player'sdisplay 107 (FIG. 1) and wherein a player's two race cars are shown intheir respective positions (with highlighted and expanded markers 602)on the leader board in side display area 603 along with the respectiveawards for the player, and, as may similarly be shown on overheaddisplay 101 in accordance with one or more embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 7, example flowchart 700 of a community game is shownin accordance with one or more embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 8, example gaming machine 103 is shown including topglass display 105, middle display 803, primary display 107, lowerdisplay 807 and user interface 809, all mounted on a cabinet 811 inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. In the play ofa primary game at gaming machine 103, a set of video or mechanical reelsare spun to present a random or pseudo-random game outcome after thewagering game has been initiated with a wager by a patron and winningprimary game outcomes are paid in accordance with a paytable and anyadditional games associated with gaming machine 801, such as feature ormystery bonus games. Top glass display 801 may comprise a programmableportion of or a separate display (such as an LCD, LED, TFT, etc.display) or glass painted, etched, etc. presenting information relatedto the primary game or theme, such as a display of the paytableassociated with the primary game and indicating the awards payable onthe various winning primary game outcomes. Display 803 (such as an LCD,LED, TFT, etc. display) may be used to display alternative games (suchas a bingo, lottery or other wagering game) or other feeds presentedthrough the network, such as advertisements, where the alternative gamesmay or may not require separate wagers or consideration, such as playerpoints accumulated in a player account by a player. Primary display 805may display a primary game, such as the Slot Car Speedway™ reel game byMultimedia Games, Inc., and further display additional information suchas lines wagered upon (“Lines”), bet per line (“Bet per Line”), totalbet (“Total Bet”), credits on the gaming machine (“Credits”), and anywinnings paid following a game play (which may include primary, feature,and community game play) (“Paid”). Display 807 may comprise a portion ofanother display device or separate display (such as an LCD, LED, TFT,etc. display) and may display selected information, such as the player'sstatus with respect to a community feature game or the player'seligibility to participate in the community feature game. User interface809 generally includes a button deck for entering the selected number oflines the player wishes to wager upon, the number of credits per lineplus a side bet, and to initiate play of the primary game. Userinterface 809 may also include a card reader for receiving a player cardand transmitting player information over a network, and, may include abill acceptor and printer for receiving currency including tickets andprinting tickets when a player desires to cash out from the gamingmachine.

Gaming machine 103 may further include an internally connected gameprocessor, a memory with primary and feature games coding includingcommunity feature game coding executable by the game processor,associated printed circuit board with ports connecting to varioussub-assemblies housed in or about gaming machine cabinet 811 inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. While gamingmachine 103 is shown as an upright gaming machine cabinet style, variouscabinet styles may be utilized including a slant top cabinet style and abar top cabinet style (where the cabinet may be part of a bar/table topand/or housed therein).

In the example gaming machine 103 shown in FIG. 8, primary display 805shows a set of reels 815, each reel bearing a series of symbols 816.With the reels 815 in a stationary position, the symbols 816 visiblethrough primary display 805 may be viewed as an array of symbols. Duringa wagering game, such as may be initiated by a player, the reels may bespun about an axle or simulated to spin under the control of a gameprocessor which randomly or pseudo-randomly determines the game outcomeand causes the reels to stop in accordance with the determined gameoutcome.

One or more paylines, combinations, or patterns of the symbols 816including those visible through primary display 805 may be correlated toa game result payable in accordance with a paytable. Primary display 805may thereby be used to display the game result to one or more patronsstanding in front of gaming machine 103. While example gaming machine103 includes a set of five reels 815, various numbers of reels may beselected or utilized in an implementation of one or more embodiments,such as one, two, three, four, five, six, seven reels, and so forth.

Additionally, while gaming machine 103 is described using video orvirtual reels, reels 815 may be implemented with mechanical reels withfixed symbols or dynamic symbols (such as by using FOLED (flexibleorganic LED) reel strips wherein one or more symbols may be programmeddynamically to vary the symbol and/or its appearance). Additionally oneor more display panels may be implemented to present each reel 815virtually. In the case of virtual displays of the reels, the symbols maybe fixed or animated on each of reels 815. Also, overlapping displaypanels may be implemented to generate video or display effects overreels 815. For example, display windows through which mechanical reelsmay be visible may be implemented as a transmissive (e.g. Aruze or WMStransmissive display panels) or transparent (e.g. Bally transparentdisplay panels) display configured to display visual effects togetherwith the reels under the control of the game processor during theoperation of a wagering game. In the case of virtual reels, the virtualreels may be shown on a display device recessed a distance from thefront surface of the surface of primary display 805 and segregated bydividers similar to dividers separating mechanical reels, which mayprovide a spatial characteristic (e.g. PureDepth® display panels).

In one or more embodiments, the game processor operating the wageringgame and controlling game lighting and effects in many instances isimplemented as a microprocessor on a printed circuit board including oneor more memory devices and other supporting devices positioned withingaming machine 103. Referring to FIG. 9, example control structure 900of gaming machine 103 is shown in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the present invention. Game processor (CPU) 901 maycomprise a conventional microprocessor, such as an Intel Pentium® orCore® microprocessor for example, mounted on a printed circuit boardwith supporting ports, drivers, memory, and coding to communicate withand control gaming machine operations, such as through the execution ofcoding stored in memory 903 including one or more wagering games 904 andcommunity game 905. Game processor 901 connects to user interface 907(corresponding to interface 809 in FIG. 8) such that a player may enterinput information and game processor 901 may respond according to itsprogramming, such as to apply a wager and initiate execution of a game.Game processor 901 also may connect to a network, such as a casinoserver network which may include host, player tracking, and accountingserver functionality through network controller 909 to enable networkmonitoring and sharing of data and information between respective of theservers in the network and gaming machine 103. Game processor 901 mayalso connect to various devices within and about the gaming machineincluding A/V system 911, reel assembly 913, and reel lighting assembly915 through respective controllers, such as one or more videocontrollers 921, audio controllers 923, motor drive circuit controller925, and light controller 927. In the case where the reels areimplemented using a video display, reel assembly 913 and reel lightingassembly 915 may be modified or eliminated depending upon the desiredconfiguration. For example, in one or more embodiments, it may bedesirable to use reel lighting assembly 915 to amplify or providevarious light effects in conjunction with a video reel display duringgame play, alternatively this functionality may be absorbed into thevideo display coding and presentation.

Generally, activity at gaming machine 103 may be initiated by a playerinserting currency and/or a player card into a bill acceptor and cardreader, respectively. Upon insertion, a signal is sent to game processor901. In the case of the insertion of a player card, the card readertransmits card information which may be directed through networkcontroller 909 to a player tracking server connected to the network.Player data may then be transmitted to gaming machine 103, and,responsive to the data, game processor 901 may execute coding causingplayer data and a display (and possibly an audio) command to betransmitted to one of the video and/or audio controllers instructing thecontrollers to display player information on a respective display andpossibly issue an audio greeting through one or more respectivespeakers.

In the case currency is inserted in the suitable bill acceptor device atgaming machine 103, the bill acceptor sends a signal to game processor901 which may include an identification of the currency that has beenread. Game processor 901 in accordance with its coding may convert thecurrency amount to credits and transmit a store and display signal to acredit meter and its associated display (“Credits”). Once credits havebeen associated with the credit meter (via the insertion of currency orotherwise), the player may select the number of paylines and credits perline that the player wishes to wager, whereupon game processor 901, inaccordance with its coding, receives the wager information from userinterface 907, and may transmit accounting and display information tothe payline (“Lines”), credits per payline (“Bet per Line”), and totalbet (“Total Bet”) meters and displays, transmits an update to the creditmeter and display (“Credits”) deducting the amount of the total bet, andinitiates the wagering game.

In the case of Class III gaming devices, when a game is initiated, arandom number generator (RNG) may be operated by game processor 901 todetermine the game outcome. Commonly, game processor 901 is positionedwithin gaming machine 103 and configured to manage the operation of thegaming machine components, such as shown in FIG. 9. Game processor 901may be implemented with a microprocessor, controller, and/or digitalsignal processor to execute coding, transmit the wager and game requestinformation through the network, and operate an RNG to determine thegame outcome. In one or more embodiments, coding may be implemented andstored in memory 903, executable by game processor 901 to control theprimary and feature game execution and to control associatedelectro-mechanical devices, such as reel lighting, speakers, and reelsthrough respective video, audio, reel drive motor controllers, andlighting controllers 921, 923, 925, 927.

In addition, coding may be stored to execute and/or integrate gamingdevice operation with a community feature game, such as describedherein, where gaming machine 103 may be designated as the communityfeature game controller or one of the client gaming machines on thebank. For example, each gaming device 103 of a bank may include codingexecutable by the respective game processor to initiate and operate thecommunity game and also coding to respond as a client gaming machine onthe bank responsive to a primary controller. One of the gaming devices103 may be designated as the primary controller responsible foroperating the community game and overhead display 101 (FIG. 1). In thecase that the primary controller becomes unavailable, a second gamingdevice may be designated as the backup primary controller and a rule ofsuccession may be coded into each of gaming machines 103 of a respectivebank. Each of the gaming devices may include monitoring codingexecutable on an ongoing periodic basis to ascertain which gaming deviceis the active primary controller during a given time period.Alternatively, the primary controller may be responsible to executeperiodic polling of each of gaming machines 103 of the respective bank.In the event that the backup primary controller does not receive a pollwithin a designated period, the backup primary controller may commenceoperation as primary controller, commence polling operations, andcommence execution of coding to randomly determine when to initiate theassociated community game.

It will be appreciated that the gaming machine control arrangement shownin FIG. 9 is shown only for purposes of example and is not intended tolimit the present invention to any particular game control arrangement.Furthermore, games according to the present invention may rely on acentral determinant system remote from the gaming machine for providingthe outcome for a given play of the primary or community game. Also,substantially any game accounting system may be employed with a gamingmachine within the scope of the present invention, and the invention isnot limited to currency based systems. For example, game play creditsmay be made available for play of a primary game at a gaming machinewithin the scope of the present invention using a player account card orcredit voucher/ticket, or by any other means.

Referring to FIG. 10, example screenshot 1000 of a reel-based game isshown with a primary display area displaying a set of reels 1001 andassociated symbols, a sideboard area 1003 showing the current player ashaving no bets recorded for the next community game and being therebycurrently ineligible to participate, a header area including a countdowntimer 109 for the beginning of the next community game, and a footerarea including a display of the current player's credits and wagers, allof which may be displayed on a player-viewable display, such as aprimary game display (107 in FIG. 8 for example), in accordance with oneor more embodiments. Countdown timer 109 may comprise simply a clockhand which sweeps toward and end position (twelve o'clock for example)which indicates the point at which the next community game will betriggered. Some implementations of countdown timer 109 may include adifferent color (such as red) behind the sweep of the hand to betteremphasize the time remaining before the next community game. Of course,although an analog clock is shown for purposes of example, otherimplementations may use a digital clock or an analog or digital meter toindicate the time remaining until the next feature game.

Referring to FIG. 11, example screenshot 1100 of a reel-based game isshown with a primary display area displaying the set of reels 1001 andassociated symbols, the sideboard area 1003 showing the current playeras having one ‘250 credit’ bet recorded for the next community game andbeing thereby currently eligible to participate, and, a header areaincluding a countdown timer 109 for the beginning of the next communitygame, all of which may be displayed on a player-viewable display, suchas a primary game display (107 in FIG. 8 for example), in accordancewith one or more embodiments. The player's bet for the next communitygame is indicated by marker 1102 in sideboard area 1003.

Referring to FIG. 12, example screenshot 1200 of the reel-based game isshown with a primary display area displaying a set of reels 1001 andassociated symbols, the sideboard area 1003 showing the current playeras having two ‘250 credit’ bets recorded for the next community game andbeing thereby currently eligible to participate, and, a header areaincluding countdown timer 109 for the beginning of the next communitygame, all of which may be displayed on a player-viewable display, suchas a primary game display (107 in FIG. 8 for example), in accordancewith one or more embodiments. The player's two bets for the nextcommunity game are each indicated by a respective marker 1202.

Referring to FIG. 13, example screenshot 1300 of the reel-based game isshown with a primary display area displaying a set of reels 1001 andassociated symbols including three scattered ‘Place Your Bet’ symbols1305 triggering the Speedway Race™ Bonus (enabling the player to enteranother bet for the next community game), the sideboard area 1003showing the current player as already having one bet recorded for thenext community game and being thereby currently eligible to participate,and, a header area including countdown timer 109 for the beginning ofthe next community game, all of which may be displayed on aplayer-viewable display, such as a primary game display (107 in FIG. 8for example), in accordance with one or more embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 14, example screenshot 1400 is shown of the SpeedwayRace™ Bonus betting interface triggered in this example by theappearance of the three scattered ‘Place Your Bet’ symbols 1305 in theprimary game as shown in FIG. 13. In this interface shown in FIG. 14 theplayer is provided a ‘250’ Bet Ticket Value and the opportunity toselect one of the race cars upon which to bet for the next communitygame. Screenshot 1400 further displays the paytable 1406 for thecommunity race bonus, the car whereon the player has already placed abet (as indicated by symbol 1407), and countdown timer 109 showing thetime remaining prior to the start of the next community game. All of thefeatures in screenshot 1400 may be displayed on a player-viewabledisplay, such as a primary game display (107 in FIG. 8 for example), inaccordance with one or more embodiments. When provided a Bet Ticketopportunity, the player may bet on the same or a different car, suchthat, multiple bets may be placed on the same car by the same player.Also, multiple bets may be placed on the same car by different playersand each player is paid winnings based on their own bets.

Referring to FIG. 15, example screenshot 1500 is shown of the SpeedwayRace™ Bonus triggered by the appearance of three scattered ‘Place YourBet’ symbols 1305 in the primary game as shown for example in FIG. 13.In accordance with the bonus game, the player has been provided a ‘250’Bet Ticket Value to place on one of the race cars. FIG. 15 shows thestate of the graphic in response to the player's election of one of thecars. In particular, the player has elected (chosen) the car ‘Galaxy3000’ and this election is shown in the example by showing car icon‘Galaxy 3000’ in central area 1510 and showing the notice ‘250 BetConfirmed’ at the location 1511 of the ‘Galaxy 3000’ icon that theplayer invoked in order to select that car (note the location of the‘Galaxy 3000’ icon on the selection screen of FIG. 14 prior to theplayer's selection). The screenshot 1500 in FIG. 15 further displays thepaytable 1406 for the community race bonus as shown in FIG. 14, and alsodisplays at countdown timer 109 the time remaining prior to the start ofthe next community game. All of screenshot 1500 may be displayed on aplayer-viewable display, such as primary game display 107 in FIG. 8, inaccordance with one or more embodiments. It is noted that the remainderof the graphic aside from the icon at area 1510, the message at area1511, paytable 1406, and countdown timer 109, may be shown in a muted orfaded graphic form to emphasize the icons at areas 1510 and 1511 alongwith paytable 1406 and timer 109.

Following entry of a bet pursuant to the screen graphic shown in FIG. 14(which changes the graphic to a “selected” graphic as shown in FIG. 15,a banner (not shown) may be displayed notifying the player that theplayer may increase or make additional bets on the community featuregame by continuing play. For example, the banner may recite “Keepplaying to win more tickets for the next race.” This banner may be shownwhether the player bets from a bet selection graphic (such as in FIG.14) triggered in the primary game or otherwise. It should also be notedthat the bet selection graphic of FIG. 14 may be triggered during a playin a primary game at the gaming machine, a play in a secondary game atthe gaming machine, of in a free spin bonus which may be available atthe gaming machine, or in any other way.

Referring to FIG. 16, example screenshot 1600 of a reel-based game isshown with a primary display area displaying the set of reels 1001 andassociated symbols including three scattered ‘Free Spin Bonus’ symbols1605 triggering the Free Spin Bonus wherein the player receives one ormore free games (plays of the reel-type game with requiring a wager).Screenshot 1600 also shows the potential contestants in the nextcommunity game in sideboard area 1003 showing the current player has nobets recorded for the next community game and being thereby currentlyineligible to participate. Screenshot 1600 further includes the footerarea including a display of the current player credits and bets whichindicate particularly at item 1606 that the player has entered a maximumbet to attempt to gain entry to the next community game. As with thescreenshots shown in FIGS. 10-12, a header area in screenshot 1600includes a display of the countdown timer 109 for the beginning of thenext community game. All of these features shown in screenshot 1600 maybe displayed on a player-viewable display such as a primary game display107 in FIG. 8, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 17, example screenshot 1700 is shown of the Free SpinBonus triggered by the appearance of the three scattered ‘Free SpinBonus’ symbols 1605 in the primary game. In this Free Spin Bonus theplayer is provided a one or more free spins. Screenshot 1700 furtherdisplays the free spins remaining in area 1710, the time remaining priorto the start of the next community game though countdown timer 109, andthe sideboard area 1003 showing the current player has no bets recordedfor the next community game and being thereby currently ineligible toparticipate. All of the graphic features of screenshot 1700 may bedisplayed on a player-viewable display such as a primary game display107 in FIG. 8, in accordance with one or more embodiments. During theFree Spin Bonus, all lines may pay a multiple of conventional play. Forexample, all winning paylines may pay three times the win amount listedin the paytable. Also, a bonus within a bonus may be triggered, as forexample when three scattered ‘Place Your Bet’ symbols occur within theFree Spin Bonus. In this case the selection graphic of screenshot 1400may be displayed as shown in FIG. 14. Once the selection is made andafter the completed selection graphic along the lines of FIG. 15 isdisplayed, the game play may return to the Free Spin Bonus until allfree spins are completed and then to the primary game.

Referring to FIG. 18, example screenshot 1800 may be shown to notify theplayer that the community game has been triggered and that further playof the primary game (or other game being conducted at the commencementof the community game) has been interrupted in accordance with one ormore embodiments. A snapshot of the state of the gaming machine may berecorded and following the community game, the gaming machine may bere-enabled at the same state of the primary game or other game.

For example, a player on the bank, who is eligible to play the communityfeature game, may have been playing a Free Spin Bonus (as shown at FIG.17 for example) at the time the community feature game is triggered. Abanner such as that shown in FIG. 18 may appear across the player'sscreen advising the player of the impending beginning of the communityfeature game and interrupting play of the primary game. The state of theprimary game may be stored including the remaining number of free spins,so that once the community feature game is completed, the primary gamemay be restored in accordance with the stored game state and the FreeSpin Bonus may continue. In one or more embodiments, the Free Spin Bonusmay only be interrupted directly before a spin and may not beinterrupted while the reels are spinning or while banging up credits. Insuch a case, if the gaming machine is banging up credits when the raceis triggered, then the interrupt may occur at some predetermined pointsuch as just before the next spin or after the bonus is over, whichevercomes first.

In one or more embodiments, a primary game may be interrupted duringplay of a game. In this case the game may be stored during play of thecommunity feature game and resumed at the state of its interruptedprimary game following play of the community feature game. In one ormore embodiments, a player may be provided an option to resume theinterrupted game or to request a new play. In one or more embodiments,if a primary game is interrupted during game play, the player may not beprovided an option and the gaming machine may be programmed to eithercontinue the interrupted game play or to initiate a new game play. Ineither case, the player's original wager at the time of the gameinterruption may be applied as the wager.

Referring again to FIG. 8, in one or more embodiments, gaming machine103 may include two or more executable games. Following one or moreplays of a first game, a player may be provided an option to interruptplay of the first game and initiate play of a second game. In the eventthat the player elects to play the second game, play of the first gamemay be interrupted and the state of the first game stored in memory.Following one or more plays of the second game, the player may either beprovided an option to resume play of the first game or may automaticallybe returned to play of the first game, and, the first game may beresumed in accordance with the stored game state information. Forexample, the second game may be selectable from a menu of gamesavailable for play on gaming machine 103 at any time. In anotherexample, the second game may be triggered randomly or pseudo-randomly ongaming machine 103 and the player may be provided the opportunity toplay, in which case an additional wager may be required. In a furtherexample, the second game may be provided without further wager by theplayer. Continuing with this example, the player may qualify for thesecond game through play on the first game (e.g. FIGS. 13-14, exceptthat the community feature game may be played by a player as astand-alone game).

In one or more alternate embodiments, gaming machine 103 may operate aprimary game and a feature game as stand-alone games, wherein thefeature game may be operable substantially as described herein (the carrace game) except that both the primary game and feature games mayoperated without any participation by another player. By example, thefeature game may be triggered by the same or similar types of mechanismsas described with respect to the community feature game (such as throughan RNG operable by game processor 901 or by use of a threshold based onthe accumulated amount of side bets or wagers on respective gamingmachine 103, or any combination thereof, or, by the appearance of apredetermined number of special symbols on or off an active payline).

Once triggered, the feature game may be displayed on one of the displaysoperable by gaming machine 103, such as display 105 or 107 on which avideo representation of the feature game may be presented by eitherreplacing or overlaying primary game display content. For example, ifdisplay 107 includes mechanical reels, the display may also include anoverlaying display (such as a flat panel display) which may be changedfrom a transparent mode to a feature game display mode by game processor901 to mask the mechanical reels. In the case in which display 107comprises two or more displays with or without mechanical reels, one orboth displays may be used separately or together to display videocontent for the primary game and one or more bonus or feature games (forexample, special effects or symbols may be rendered through anoverlaying display while the underlying display displays the reels ofthe primary, bonus or feature games, depending upon which game is beingshown or played and if the respective game includes reels).

In the stand-alone feature game (as in the herein described communityfeature game), the player may play the primary game with opportunitiesto trigger one or more bonus games, such as the Free Spin Bonus, andqualify to play the feature game (e.g. stand-alone version of the SlotCar Race feature game described herein) by winning betting tickets andselecting feature game participants (e.g. virtual cars). For example,once a player qualifies for the feature game, a timer may be initiatedand displayed (such as that shown in the various screenshots) to let theplayer know when the next feature game will commence. Alternatively, thefeature game may be triggered by an RNG or subsequent game eventfollowing qualification of a player in the gaming session. In one ormore embodiments, a minimum wager and/or rate of play may be required tomaintain eligibility for the feature game. In the case of a minimumplaying requirement, a meter may be displayed on one of the displays ofgaming machine 103 to alert the player of eligibility (for example, agreen to red meter which displays green when playing with the requisitewager and red when the player hasn't played within the required timeperiod).

In one or more embodiments, an option may be provided to store the gamestate and return at a subsequent time to continue playing. For example,a player may qualify for the feature game, but choose to discontinueplay. In such case, the gaming system may provide an option to theplayer to save the game state and resume the game at a later time whenthe player uploads an identification to the gaming system. For example,the gaming system may include a player tracking system and gamingmachine 103 may include a player card reader, such that when the playerre-inserts the player's player card, the gaming system identifies theplayer and may provide an option (such as through a menu on display 807)for the player to resume the stored game state. The stored game statemay be stored for a limited or indefinite period of time depending uponthe gaming system programming. The player may have the option to resumegame play or initiate a new game session. In the event that the playerelects a new game session, the stored game state may or may not beretained in the gaming system depending upon the gaming systemprogramming.

As with the community feature game, the player may qualify for variousbets on the feature game as the result of primary game play. Once aplayer has played the minimum required for eligibility for the featuregame, if the feature game is triggered by the primary game play (such asby the appearance of special symbols) or triggered by an alternatetrigger mechanism (such as through a random selection performedperiodically (for example every second) by game processor 901 using anRNG) within a predetermined period (such as eight seconds) following theend of a prior qualified play, then the feature game may commence. Inthe event that the player has not qualified for the feature game,triggering of the feature game may be suppressed based on the gamecoding executed by game processor 901.

In one or more alternate embodiments, the community or stand-alonefeature game may include player participation, such as by providing aplayer with a player-controlled wheel, joy stick, rollingball-in-socket, brake, accelerator, or virtual representations of one ormore such control devices with which to navigate an object, such as acar, around a displayed terrain, surface, track, or field. In whichcase, a player may be limited to betting on a single participant or aplayer may be able to place a back-up bet on a participant ‘owned’(already selected by another player). An option may be provided enablingthe player's object to be automatically navigated about the trackaccording to programming. In the event that a player has bet upon and‘owns’ more than one participant in the feature game, then the playermay be allowed to navigate one of the participant's while any other ofplayer's ‘owned’ participants may be automatically navigated by thegame. In an example embodiment, the feature game may be a race track inwhich each participant engages in a time trial so that each player'sparticipant may be separately navigated around a track. In anotherembodiment, multiple heats may be provided whereby two participantsengage in a race in which they may compete head-to-head and the winnermay move up to the next stage of heats until a winner is finallyobtained. The community feature game may be implemented as a stand-alonegame wherein the other participants are managed by the game. The playermay receive awards based on bets placed on the respective participants.Those bets may be initiated such as by qualification (e.g. threescattered ‘Select Your Bet’ symbols obtained in the primary game) or bysimply placing wagers after triggering the feature game.

Referring to FIG. 19, a block diagram of example gaming network 1900associated with one or more gaming facilities is shown includingoverhead display 101 for a community game operably connected to adesignated bank of gaming machines 103 to provide a community featuregame (as described herein) in accordance with one or more embodiments.

As shown, a selected bank of gaming machines 103 (Egm 1-Egm N) andoverhead display 101 may be network connected through Floor Server 1905to Host Server 1907 which in turn connects to various back-end servers,such as player account server 1908, accounting server 1909, progressiveserver 1910, web server 1911, game server 1921, and centraldetermination server 1923 (in the case of Class II gaming operations andother gaming operations in which outcomes are determined at a centraldevice rather than at the gaming machine itself).

In one or more embodiments, game server 1921 may provide server-basedgames and/or game services to network connected gaming devices, such asgaming machines 103 (which may be connected by network cable orwirelessly). Progressive server 1910 may accumulate progressive awardsby receiving defined amounts (such as a percentage of the wagers fromeligible gaming devices or by receiving funding from marketing or casinofunds) and provide progressive awards to winning gaming devices upon aprogressive event. Such a progressive event may include a progressivejackpot game outcome or other triggering event such as a random orpseudo-random win determination at a networked gaming device or server(such as to provide a large potential award to players playing thecommunity feature game). Accounting server 1909 may receive gaming datafrom each of the networked gaming devices and perform audit functions.Player account server 1908 may maintain player account records andpersistent data such as accumulated player points. With reference toFIG. 19, while a few servers have been shown separately, they may becombined or split into additional servers having additionalcapabilities.

As shown, in one or more embodiments, gaming network 1900 may includeweb server 1911 connected to a public web network, such as worldwide web(WWW) network 1913. Community Game Website 1915 may externally connectthrough network 1913 to web server 1911 through a firewall in order toprovide access by gaming network 1900 to player information, such as aplayer's community game or associated points obtained from non-wageringgaming activity. Such a service, for example, may be offered to a casinooperator on a fee basis or through a subscription service with thecommunity game website provider, whereby a casino operator may access aplayer's records, view a player's activity at community game website1915, and choose, based on the player's activity, to offer or providepromotional credits or incentives to the player at the casino operator'sfacilities.

Community gaming website 1915 may offer players a variety of games toplay including the community feature game as substantially disclosedherein. A player may have an opportunity to sign-up to establish anaccount and be provided free playing credits of no remunerative value.By playing one or more of the games, the player may accumulate playerpoints to establish a playing record which may later be accessed by asubscribing casino operator as described above. In one or moreembodiments, the accumulated player points may have a remunerativevalue, such as for obtaining rewards. An example reward may be an allexpenses paid trip to the Encore resort & casino in Las Vegas. Anotherexample may be promotional credits for use at a designated gamingfacility. Each of these rewards may be sponsored by the respectivecasino operator, or the community game website provider may offer suchrewards as part of its player incentive program.

In one or more embodiments, a casino operator may be able to programplayer rewards through a user console (not shown, similar to acash/ticket voucher kiosk or ATM) connected to host server 1907 wherebya player may enter the player's community game website accountinformation onto the user console and request promotional credits orsome other award made available by the casino operator. In such case,such rewards may automatically be applied to a player's accountassociated with the casino operator or may be obtained at a playerwindow located at the operator's facility.

Referring to FIG. 20, an example flowchart of web-based community gameprocess 2000 is shown in accordance with one or more embodiments whereina player may log into community game website 1915 (FIG. 19) throughpersonal computer (PC) 1931 or wireless device 1933 (such as an AppleiPhone® or iPad®). By example, a player may log into Community Gamewebsite from home PC/wireless phone, etc., and the player is providedpoints or virtual dollars to play Primary Game. The player then proceedsto play the Primary Game and accumulates points to qualify for thecommunity feature game. Once qualified, the player may accumulateadditional points to increase player level, such as to earn additionalcommunity feature game player or launch opportunities, or, to increase amultiplier level from one and higher (which may be used to multiply acommunity feature game award). When the community feature game istriggered the player, the qualified players and their respective levelare identified by the system as necessary, and the community gamefeature is initiated for the qualified player or players. The playerthen plays the community feature game for additional points and mayaccumulate awards redeemable through the website or at casino site [e.g.promotional credits applied to a patron account when player identifiesthem self and opens player account]. The website stores the playerinformation including accumulated points. This website information maybe accessed by a networked casino site when the player identifies themself at the casino site (e.g, at a player desk), and corresponding promocredits may be applied to the casino patron account. The player may thenrequest this promotional value for use in obtaining goods and servicesor discounts for goods and services.

In another example of an alternative embodiment, gaming machines 103 ascontemplated herein may be configured as Class II gaming machines. Inthe case of Class II gaming devices, the overall structure of thevarious devices as discussed above is essentially the same with themajor difference being the method of determining the game outcome.Commonly, Class II gaming devices utilize the game of bingo as the basisfor determining a winning outcome where the ball draw is performedremotely by a network or central determination server (alternative gamesmay be used for determining game outcomes, such as through a lotterydrawing of a finite set of numbers, if permitted by the licensingjurisdiction). Class II gaming systems are commonly referred to acentral determination systems wherein pools and sub-pools of gameoutcomes are determined by a central server (or gaming device) anddistributed amongst a set of networked gaming devices. The distributionstep may be on demand, such as when a gaming device receives a gamerequest, or sets of game outcomes may be distributed to the variousnetworked gaming devices in which case the game processor of therequesting gaming device may select a game outcome from the set of gameoutcomes, such as by using an RNG or other selection process.

Additionally, Class II gaming devices, such as a bingo-based gamingdevice may have multiple displays, such as are shown in FIG. 8 whereinone of the displays, such as display 803, may be used to display one ormore electronic bingo cards and one or more ball drawings after a gamehas been initiated in accordance with the game outcome that has beenprovided to the gaming device by a central determination server (such asserver 1923 in FIG. 19). In the case, as in FIG. 8, where the primarydisplay 107 comprises a set of reels, game processor 901 (FIG. 9) mayconvert the centrally-determined game outcome to a corresponding valueoutcome of the reel-based game as shown in FIG. 8 and operates thereel-based game as described above and with respect to those figures.(In another embodiment, the central determination server may perform theconversion and send the corresponding reel-based game outcome andbingo-based (central determination-based) outcome). Similarly, asdescribed above, the player may wager a side bet to qualify for thecommunity game. Once the community game is initiated, play may commencein the same manner as described above with respect to FIGS. 2-6, exceptthat the RNG operation of determining the feature game winners andplacement may be performed by a central determination server.

In another example alternative embodiment, the primary wagering gamepresented to the player and displayed, such as on display 805, may be avideo poker, blackjack, roulette or other video table, card, or wageringgame.

In one or more embodiments, the community game as described above may beimplemented with progressive prizes as opposed to fixed multiplierawards. For example, instead of multipliers associated with each placein the feature game, progressive values of graduated amounts may beassociated with each place. Each time the player qualifies to makeanother bet (e.g. Bet Selection Bonus), the player may be provided amultiplier, e.g. 5×, 10×. When the player qualifies a second or moretimes, the multiplier may be additive to a prior selections; forexample, 5×+5×=10× such that the player's award following the featuregame may be the progressive value associated with the feature gameparticipant selected by the player multiplied by the multiplier (in thiscase a multiple of ten times the base progressive value).

In the example race-type feature game, the award associated with a placein the feature game may be a fractional multiple of the base amount in aprogressive pool. The progressive pool may be generated in various waysincluding an initial corpus (seed) value applied by the casino operator,plus an accumulation of the side bets during a selected periodassociated with the community feature game, or, a percentage of thetotal wagers or hold amount during a selected period from the respectivegaming machines in a bank associated with the community or stand-alonefeature game, or a combination thereof. The selected period, forexample, may be the period between a previous and a current play of thecommunity feature game. A percentage, which may be the entire amount, ofany remainder in the progressive pool following play of the communityfeature game may be rolled-over to a subsequent community feature gamepool.

In one or more embodiments, the active element of the community featuregame may comprise a wide variety of objects associable with a field,space, or surface (game surface) to achieve a predictable outcome byascertaining a value for each of the variables required to model theassociation of the object with the game surface. For example, in thecase specifically described herein, the active element comprises a caror defined object launched onto a surface or course and awards acquiredbased on the path traversed which is predictable by generating amathematical model, fixing or specifically defining each of the elementsof the game surface. Another example active element may include a rocketor projectile launched from a defined location at a selected launchangle and velocity where the path may be into space with a variety ofcelestial objects, obstacles, and/or targets which may garner awards forthe player based on performance of the rocket. In another example, arocket may be launched from one location to reach another locationwhereby the player may gain an award based on the proximity of thelaunched rocket to the target location at impact. In other examples, thefeature game may comprise an obstacle course traversed by a field ofrunners or a steeple chase traversed by a field of horse and riders.Other objects that may be modeled on various fields include planes andboats.

In one or more embodiments, the spectrum of feature game outcomes may bedefined by a function with at least one player selectable ordeterminable variable and with at least one variable randomly orpseudo-randomly determinable by the feature game controller. For exampleif the feature game outcomes are defined by a function f(x,y), theplayer may select a value for ‘x’ within a range of possible values. Foreach possible ‘x’, a sub-table (set) may be generated of possible ‘y’values, each possible ‘y’ having an associated probability of occurrenceand award. In another example, the feature game may be defined by afunction f(x,y,z, . . . ), the player may be provided an opportunity toselect a value for one or more variables but not all of them, and theremaining un-selected one or more variables may randomly orpseudo-randomly be determined from a sub-table generated with theplayer-selected values for the selected variables wherein the sub-tableincludes a set of possible values for the unselected variables, alongwith an associated probability of occurrence and award for each possiblecombination of values. As shown above in the example tables, the rangeof values may be limited to a range or fixed and various undesirablevalue combinations eliminated.

FIG. 21 shows an example position graphic (leader board) 2100 for avirtual competition (in this case, a car race) shown in a competitiongraphic 2101 in a separate area of a display device. This exampleposition graphic 2100 includes six different positions 2102, eachassociated with a multiplier value 2102 a. All of the positions 2102show a respective virtual participant marker except for the positionscorresponding to 15× and 20×, which are shown in the midst of a positionswitch. One of the virtual participant markers involved in the positionswitch, the virtual participant marker labeled 2103, is highlighted toindicate that the player for which this graphic is produced has placed abet on the virtual participant corresponding to the marker. The othermarker for the virtual participant involved in the position switch islabeled 2104 in the figure. This position switch in position graphic2100 corresponds to the virtual participant indicated by marker 2103having overtaken the virtual participant indicated by marker 2104 in thevirtual competition being simultaneously displayed by competitiongraphic 2101. As is apparent by marker 2103 being shifted somewhat tothe left as compared to marker 2104, the markers do not simply tradeplaces in this embodiment. Rather, in order to provide a more excitingand visually interesting display, one of the markers (in this caseadvancing marker 2103) is shown as swinging out partially around theretreating marker 2104, while marker 2104 simply falls straight backtowards the position occupied by marker 2103 immediately prior to theposition switch. Although not shown in FIG. 21, at the completion of theposition switch, marker 2103 will be at the position occupied by marker2104 immediately before the position switch, and marker 2104 will be atthe position occupied by marker 2103 immediately before the positionswitch.

It will be appreciated that numerous variations are possible for showinga position switch between adjacent virtual participant markers inposition graphic 2100. For example, the advancing marker might shiftover somewhat to the right rather than the left as it advances to thehigher position in the position graphic 2100. Also, it could be theretreating marker which slides out partially to one side or the otherduring the position switch, or both markers could slide out in oppositedirections. Also, the various position markers in the position graphic2100, such as markers 2103 and 2104, may be shown as jostling from sideto side and up and down in their various positions to mimic jostlingbetween virtual participants in the virtual competition shown incompetition graphic 2101. As will be discussed further below inconnection with FIG. 22, the position switches shown in position graphic2100 may be made in real-time to correspond to the various virtualparticipant positions in competition graphic 2101.

Referring now to FIG. 22, generating both the competition graphic (suchas graphic 2101 partially shown in FIG. 21) and position graphic (suchas graphic 2100 in FIG. 21) may be performed in a single process basedon the desired positions of the various virtual participants atdifferent points in the virtual competition. The illustrated processincludes at block 2201, setting a starting configuration and generatingframes to show the desired display of the competition. The startingconfiguration here is simply a configuration or list of virtualparticipants. The virtual participants may be arranged randomly orotherwise, and the position on the virtual racetrack may initiallycorrespond to the relative positions of the markers in the positiongraphic.

In process block 2201, as with the other process blocks shown in FIG.22, “generate frames” refers to a process of generating the variousframes that will be displayed sequentially to show the desired videoanimation. At the start of a given competition graphic, it will beappreciated that all of the virtual participants may be lined up along astarting line or on a starting grid and may be relatively stationary.Although the competitors may be relatively stationary at this point inthe virtual competition, frames may be generated show relatively subtlemovements in the competition graphic, such as flags waiving in a breeze,or perhaps in the case of a virtual car race, vibrations in thedifferent competitor vehicles as their engines rev.

As shown at process block 2202 in FIG. 22, the process next includesselecting one or more virtual participants (cars in this case) toadvance initially from the starting position relative to the othervirtual participants. This selection may be done randomly or in anysuitable manner. However, the number of virtual participants to advanceinitially may be limited to a relatively small number (which may bepredefined) so as to limit the number of position switches shown on theposition graphic part (e.g. position graphic 2100 in FIG. 21) of theoverall feature game graphic display. Regardless of the number ofvirtual participants selected to advance relative to the remainder ofthe field, the resulting advancement or advancements determine therelative positions of the virtual participants both in the competitiongraphic (e.g. 2101 in FIG. 21) and the position graphic (e.g. 2100 inFIG. 21). The method includes generating additional frames to displaythe competition graphic and position graphic consistent with theserelative positions of virtual participants.

As shown at process block 2204, the illustrated method includes nextselecting the high finishing virtual participants (cars) to advance inthe field. It will be noted that this selection of high finishingvirtual participants requires that the finishing positions be known atleast at this point in the process. Some implementations may start thevideo graphic generation process with the finishing positions known(randomly determined, or otherwise), while other implementations may besupplied with the finishing positions after the start of the virtualcompetition and before the finishing positions are needed at block 2204.In any event, the order in which the high finishing virtual participantsare selected at process block 2204 may or may not be random. As withprocess blocks 2201 and 2202, process block 2204 indicates that videoframes are generated to display the competition graphic and positiongraphic consistent with the selected relative position changes. Thus theplace changes occasioned by these selections shown at process block 2204will be shown both in the competition graphic and the position graphic.

It will be noted that process block 2204 also indicates that additionalplace changes are selected. This indication in the process block refersto an implementation in which additional random “noise” virtualparticipant position changes are included in addition to the otherposition changes to help produce a more realistic animation.

Whether random position or place changes are made according to processblock 2204, the process continues with these selections until some pointin the competition. FIG. 22 shows the recurrent nature of the selectionsat process block 2204 by the logical loop from decision block 2205. Ifthe point in the virtual competition is reached, the process proceeds toprocess block 2206, otherwise the process loops back to block 2204. Itshould be noted that although the point at which the process progressesto block 2206 is shown as a fixed point (the start of the final stretchin the race) in FIG. 22, this transition point in the virtualcompetition, may be randomly determined.

As indicated at process block 2206, the illustrative process includesdetermining the final velocity and acceleration for each virtualparticipant to reach the finish in the predetermined position(predetermined by this point in the graphic generation process). Theprocess then includes generating video frames consistent with thedetermined velocities and accelerations, and the relative positions atthe time the step at process block 2206 begins. This generation ofadditional frames for the video animation completes the video animationof the virtual competition through to the point at which the virtualparticipants cross a finish line.

At one or more points in the process shown in FIG. 22, or throughout theprocess, the number of virtual participants that change position may beconstrained to some maximum number. For example, the entire process orat least a portion of the process may be constrained to showing no morethan two virtual participants changing position with an adjacent virtualparticipant at a given time. The maximum number of concurrent placeswitches may be constant throughout the process or may vary. In anyevent, the maximum number of concurrent place switches allows thevirtual competition to remain dynamic and interesting while preventingthe position graphic from appearing too busy.

It will be appreciated that process blocks 2202, 2204, and 2206represent different processes performed at different times of thevirtual competition being graphically rendered. The times for which thevarious process steps may be executed may vary from one virtualcompetition to the next. For example, the processing indicated atprocess block 2202 may generate the frames for the first 1-4 seconds ofthe virtual competition, and the process indicated at process block 2204may begin immediately following this initial period ends. This loopproduced by decision block 2205 may continue for a uniform period oftime for each virtual competition or (as indicated by FIG. 22) avariable period of time dictated by when the virtual participants reacha certain point in the virtual competition.

The example process shown in FIG. 22 represents a complete process ofgenerating the various video frames which go into the animated videorepresenting the feature game. This process may be performed for eachvirtual competition to be displayed and at each separate gaming systemcomponent displaying the virtual competition. For example, the featuregame represented by the virtual competition may be a community featuregame. In this case each gaming machine participating in the communityfeature game (e.g., by virtue of a player at that gaming machinequalifying for the community feature game) may separately perform theprocess described in FIG. 22 to generate substantially the same graphicdisplay at each respective gaming machine. The same process may beperformed to produce the graphic display signal necessary to drive ashared or community display device, such as the overhead display shownat 101 in FIG. 1. In one embodiment a seed value for a given featuregame play is generated at a community feature game controller (a dataprocessing device or simply “processing device”) and this seed value iscommunicated to each gaming machine and other device in the communitygaming system which must produce the feature game represented by thevirtual competition. The receiving community gaming component, that is,a processing device at the given component then generates all necessaryinformation for controlling the graphic generation process from the seedvalue. The video frames may be rendered in real-time at each processingdevice and displayed essentially concurrently at each respective displaydevice used to show the video animation. Time based updates may be usedto keep all of the processing devices and displays relatively in sync.In this arrangement all of the computations are done with respect to areal world timer, so each processing device knows what to display aseach unit of time passes. If a processing device is running slowly forsome reason, the display it drives will still be in sync with theothers, but the graphic will look relatively choppy since the drivingprocessing device has to skip frames to stay on time.

It will be appreciated that all of the processing indicated in FIG. 22may be performed by one or more suitable data processing devices (whicheach may be a suitable microprocessor or any other suitable type ofdevice) located in the gaming system. For example, one or more dataprocessing devices at a given gaming machine in the system may performthe process shown in FIG. 22 under the control of suitable program codeexecuted by the data processing device. The result of the processing isa driving signal in suitable format to drive the desired display deviceor devices to display the intended feature game animated graphic.

For an individual gaming machine the community feature game graphic maybe referred to a local graphic since it is intended to be displayedlocally at that gaming machine. Where the community feature game is tobe displayed on a public or shared display device such as device 101 inFIG. 1, the community game feature graphic may be referred to as ashared community feature game graphic. It will be appreciated thatalthough the basic animation will generally be the same as between alllocal community feature game graphics and shared community feature gamegraphics, there may be small differences suited to the intendedaudience. For example, a local community feature game graphic may (asdescribed above in connection with FIG. 22 and elsewhere) includehighlighted virtual participant markers (e.g., marker 305 in FIG. 3) forvirtual participants on which the local player at that gaming machinehas placed a bet. All virtual participant markers may be highlighted fora given shared community feature game graphic.

In some embodiments of the feature game comprising a virtual competitionsuch as the car race described above, an additional animation showingthe finish or other part of the competition in slow motion may be addedto enhance entertainment value and to clearly show the competitionresults. FIG. 23 shows a process which may be applied to produce a slowmotion replay. This illustrated process relies on starting with anoriginal frame which has been generated for the animation videorepresenting the virtual competition. This original frame may be savedfrom the rendering done to produce the original video animation, or maybe regenerated for the slow motion replay using the very same processused to produce the frame for the original, regular motion videoanimation of the virtual competition.

Referring to process block 2301 of FIG. 23, the example slow motionprocess includes first selecting an original frame to be processed toproduce a corresponding slow motion frame. At the start of the slowmotion replay processing, it is necessary to select a first or initialframe that will start the slow motion replay graphic. This selection maybe according to some rule for each slow motion process, such as theframe at 3 seconds in real-time before the finish or other event to beshown in slow motion. Any suitable selection process may be used forselecting the initial frame, including a process that tailors theselection to the particular slow motion replay to be produced. As willbe described further below, the process shown in FIG. 23 is a loopprocess which is performed for each corresponding original frame showingthe original real-time animation of the virtual competition. For eachexecution of process block 2301 after the first execution, the frameselected for processing may be the next frame in the original animation.

After selecting a given frame for processing, the process shown in FIG.23 includes sampling down the frame to reduce the pixel count in theframe as shown at process block 2302. This sampling down may includemore than one process. For example, the sampling down indicated at block2302 may include an initial sampling down by one quarter, and then asampling down of the resulting frame again by one quarter. In any event,the resulting sampled down frame includes far fewer pixels forprocessing in the rest of the process. It will be appreciated thatalthough the sampling down is included in the illustrated process, thisstep may not be required for some implementations depending upon thenature of each original frame and the available processing power.

The illustrated process further includes selecting a thresholdbrightness value as indicated at process block 2304, and then comparinga selected pixel in the sampled-down original frame with the thresholdbrightness value as indicated at process block 2305. As shown at processblock 2307, if this comparison shows that the brightness of therespective pixel is greater than the selected threshold, then the pixelis replaced with a suitable color to produce a camera flash effect inthe resulting slow motion replay. For example, pixel may be replacedwith white or an off-white color. As indicated by the loop back fromdecision block 2308, this pixel comparison and conditional replacementmay be performed on a pixel-by-pixel basis across the entire frame beingprocessed.

Once the last pixel of the frame being processed is compared andreplaced according to the given replacement rule, the illustratedprocess proceeds to introduce both a horizontal (H) and vertical (V)blur to the frame as indicated at process block 2310. The resultingmodified frame is then upscaled as necessary back to the originalquality as shown at process block 2311. For the given frame beingprocessed, the illustrated process finally includes blending themodified frame created according to the previous process steps with theoriginal frame according to a blending rule. This step shown at processblock 2312 may use any suitable blending rule. For example, the blendingrule may comprise a 50/50 blend of pixel properties on a pixel-by-pixelbasis or any other suitable property blending rule to produce thedesired result. The resulting frame from the process applied accordingto FIG. 23 is then ready to be displayed to produce the desired slowmotion graphic. It will be appreciated that the slow motion displayslows time relative to the real-time animation, and thus requiresadditional frames to be added to produce a smooth slow motion animation.

As indicated by decision block 2314, the entire process starts againwith the next frame in the original animation until the last originalframe is processed. This last original frame may not be the final frameof the original animation, but may be some other frame at a point in theoriginal animation where the slow motion replay is to end.

In one embodiment, in each loop through the process, the threshold valueselected at block 2304 is incremented until some final value is reached.This process of increasing the number of white pixels as frames advancehas the effect of producing a “bloom” of the replaced color as the finalmodified frames are displayed, and mimics the increasing brightness of acamera flash. At some point in the desired slow motion animation it maybe desired for the frames to gradually return to their originalcondition as in the optical recovery from a camera flash. Thus theprocess at block 2304 may include selecting a brightness threshold valuelower than the immediately preceding value. It will also be appreciatedthat the camera flash effect produced according to the pixel replacementpart of the process shown in FIG. 23, may not begin at the start of theslow motion replay. For example, it may be desirable to show the leadingcars approaching the finish line in regular slow motion, and then startthe camera flash effect just when the lead car (virtual participant)reaches the finish line. Thus a process according to FIG. 23 may apply avery high threshold value to prevent pixel replacement for some frames,or may simply skip the pixel replacement steps for some frames, untilthe desired camera flash effect is desired. Even where no pixelreplacement is used for a given frame for the slow motion replay, it maystill be desirable to add a horizontal and/or vertical blur as at block2310, although the sampling down and upscaling for the frame may not berequired, and the blending may also not be required.

The processing required to produce the slow motion replay framesaccording to FIG. 23, or some other suitable process, may be performedat any suitable data processing device in the gaming system. Forexample, for producing a slow motion display graphic input signal forone or more display devices at a gaming machine, the processing may beperformed at a suitable data processing device at the gaming machine,such as the processing device (which may be a microprocessor)representing the game controller for the gaming machine (901 in FIG. 9),or a dedicated graphics processor (GPU) associated with the gamecontroller of the given gaming machine. The processing may be performedby the suitable data processing device or devices under the control ofprogram code executed by the data processing device or devices.

Although the above examples predominantly discuss the slow motion replayproduced according to FIG. 23 in terms of a virtual competitioncomprising a race, the same slow motion generating arrangement may beused for any animated video sequence, virtual competitions or othervirtual events.

As discussed above, where the game represented by the virtualcompetition is a feature game, the feature game may be implemented so asto interrupt play in a primary game at a given gaming machine. In thecase of an interruption of play at a gaming machine, the state of thegaming machine at the time of the interruption may be saved and storedso that the primary game may be resumed once the feature game iscompleted. Some primary games may include scripted plays in which somenumber of plays are awarded to the player and the result of each play ispredetermined to produce a give result. For example, a primary game mayinclude awarding some number of free spins to a player based on somefree spin qualifying result, event, or other parameter. In the case of aprimary game in which plays are played according to a script, the stepof saving the primary game state may include saving an identifier forthe last completed play of the script. This allows the game controllerfor the given gaming machine to resume the script at the correctposition to show the remaining scripted plays.

Referring generally to the forgoing description and the followingclaims, as used herein the terms “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,”“having,” “containing,” “involving,” and the like are to be understoodto be open-ended, that is, to mean including but not limited to. Any useof ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., in the claimsto modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority,precedence, or order of one claim element over another, or the temporalorder in which acts of a method are performed. Rather, unlessspecifically stated otherwise, such ordinal terms are used merely aslabels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name fromanother element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term).

The above described example embodiments are intended to illustrate theprinciples of the invention, but not to limit the scope of theinvention. Various other embodiments and modifications to thesepreferred embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

For example, many casinos include a backend server system that isnetwork connected to each of the gaming machines on the floor. One ofthe backend servers may be programmed to operate as the community gameserver and connect to a bank of gaming machines 103 and overhead display101 as shown in FIG. 1. Thus a backend server may be programmed toinitiate the community game feature and control the respective bank ofgaming machines 103 and overhead display 101 during the community gamefeature presentation.

1. A method of operating a feature game system including the steps of: following the initiation of one or more plays of a primary game, providing a player the opportunity to select at least one virtual participant from a field of virtual participants of a feature game; interrupting play of the primary game; storing the game state of the primary game; initiating play of the feature game; determining an outcome of the feature game; and following the conclusion of the feature game, resuming game play of the primary game in accordance with the stored game state.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the feature game is a community feature game and further including providing at least one additional player of the primary game, or another primary game, the opportunity to select at least one virtual participant from the field of virtual participants of the feature game.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein interrupting play of the primary game includes receiving an interrupt signal at a gaming machine at which the primary game is being conducted and then continuing the primary game to a predefined interruption point in the primary game and wherein storing the game state of the primary game includes storing the game state at the predefined interruption point in the primary game.
 4. The method of claim 2 further including communicating a ready signal from a gaming machine at which the primary game is being conducted to a community feature game controller separate from the gaming machine.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the play of the feature game is initiated after receipt of the ready signal at the community feature game controller.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the primary game is interrupted during the execution of a script defining multiple plays of the primary game, and wherein storing the game state of the primary game includes storing an identifier for a last completed play in the script.
 7. A gaming apparatus including: a player interface enabling a player to initiate one or more plays of a primary game and providing the player an opportunity to select at least one virtual participant from a field of virtual participants of a feature game; a feature game processing device adapted to produce an interrupt signal to interrupt play of the primary game; and a primary game processing device adapted to (i) store the game state of the primary game in response to the interrupt signal, to (ii) conduct play of the feature game through to a conclusion of the feature game which identifies a feature game outcome, and to (iii) upon the conclusion of the feature game, resume game play of the primary game in accordance with the stored game state.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the feature game is a community feature game and further including at least one additional player interface enabling at least one additional player of the primary game, or another primary game, the opportunity to select at least one virtual participant from the field of virtual participants of the feature game.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the primary game processing device is also adapted to, in response to the interrupt signal, continue the primary game to a predefined interruption point in the primary game and store the game state of the primary game at the predefined interruption point in the primary game.
 10. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the primary game processing device is further adapted to communicate a ready signal from a gaming machine at which the primary game is being conducted to the feature game controller which is separate from the gaming machine.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the feature game controller is adapted to communicate a feature start signal to the gaming machine after receipt of the ready signal, and wherein the primary game processing device initiates play of the feature game in response to the feature start signal.
 12. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the primary game is interrupted during the execution of a script defining multiple plays of the primary game, and wherein the primary game processing device stores the primary game state by storing an identifier for a last completed play in the script.
 13. A program product stored on one or more tangible computer-readable media, the program product including: feature game administration program code executable to produce an interrupt signal to interrupt play of a primary game; primary game program code executable to (i) initiate one or more plays in a primary game, to (ii) provide a player of the primary game an opportunity to select at least one virtual participant from a field of virtual participants of a feature game, to (iii) store the game state of the primary game in response to the interrupt signal, and to (iv) resume game play of the primary game in accordance with the stored game state upon completion of the feature game; and feature game presentation program code executable to produce a feature game graphic signal to drive one or more display devices to present the feature game to the player via a competition graphic showing a virtual competition between the field of virtual participants, with the result of the virtual competition identifying a feature game outcome.
 14. The program product of claim 13 wherein the feature game is a community feature game and wherein the primary game program code is executable to provide at least one additional player of the primary game, or another primary game, the opportunity to select at least one virtual participant from the field of virtual participants of the feature game.
 15. The program product of claim 14 wherein the primary game program code is also executable to, upon receipt of the interrupt signal, continue the primary game to a predefined interruption point in the primary game, and wherein storing the game state of the primary game includes storing the game state at the predefined interruption point in the primary game.
 16. The program product of claim 14 wherein the primary game program code is also executable to cause a ready signal to be communicated from a gaming machine at which the primary game is being conducted to a community feature game controller separate from the gaming machine.
 17. The program product of claim 16 wherein the feature game administration program code is executable for causing a feature start signal to be distributed after receipt of the ready signal at the community feature game controller, and wherein the feature game presentation program code is executable to initiate play of the feature game in response to the feature start signal.
 18. The program product of claim 13 wherein the primary game is interrupted during the execution of a script defining multiple plays of the primary game, and wherein storing the game state of the primary game includes storing an identifier for a last completed play in the script.
 19. A method of operating two or more games on a gaming machine including the steps of: following one or more plays of a first game at a gaming machine, providing a player the opportunity to initiate play of a second game at the gaming machine; interrupting play of the first game; storing the game state of the first game; initiating play of the second game; determining an outcome of the second game; and following the conclusion of the second game, resuming game play of the first game in accordance with the stored game state. 